Jim Kerslake asked ...
> On a large University Web site, where "keen individuals" within academic
> departments create and maintain their own pages, ...
Some context clarification is necessary
Are these pages "official" or "unofficial"? (ie. written for the
furtherance of University business or the individual's intersts).
If the former, I would say yes, if the latter I would suggest that they
be positively forbidden from using the corporate design - in some ways
the latter is more important, as material published in such a way that
the reader could "reasonably assume" the material to have the official
sanction of the institution MAY result in legal problems some way down
the line.
> Does it work, politically and/or technically?
It depends what conditions you impose, how easy it is to use the style,
what your publication procedures are etc.
We have had reasonable success at enforcing and/or protecting our use
of the logo and hope to extend this to a more comprehensive design style
in the very near future. Though the use of SSI and templates we hope to
make use of the "approved" style (for those eligible to use it) the
easiest way to produce pages. There will be political issues - but the
corporate style should be flexible enough to accomodate departmental
identity when required. None of this of course has a hope unless it is
dictated by top level management - to my mind, web people should not be
so much involved in deciding what pages people should produce as
implementing institutional policy.
> Does it make for a better overall University site?
It depends what/who your site is for (back to info policy!) If you want
your organisation to look like a "corporate" organisation, then a
cohesive look and feel will help.
> If so, should it extend beyond just "sticking the logo in the corner"?
Unanswerable - but even "sticking the logo at the top" is a waste of
time unless you have a really well thought reason for doing it. There
are a number of other things that might be usefully enforced - eg.
copyright notices, author's name, publication date etc. If this sort of
info is presented in a standard fashion, it becomes clearer to the user.
You might wnat to consider navigational aids - always easier to use if
they are presented in a consistent fashion.
Again, the more coherent your "coporate style", then the clearer the
"unofficial" nature of those pages which are NOT part of the official
Uni. presentation.
Regards,
Colin
>
>
> Thanks a lot,
> Jim
> --
> Jim Kerslake
> DISS Web Team Manager
> University of Aberdeen
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
--
_________________________________________________
Colin K. Work
Computing Services
University of Southampton
email [log in to unmask]
tel. 01703 593090 (direct line)
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